025 The Sword That Annihilates Guilds!

Who is suppressing whom?

Li Serpent was slain by Dawnwind, and from its corpse sprang a bone-white dragon. Faced with two skeletal dragons, the Dark Bat, who had been casting spells, halted abruptly and retreated. Since Dawnwind had designed a trap, there must be further contingencies; the Dark Bat’s temperament was much like Dawnwind’s—cautious and wary.

Beside Li Serpent’s body lay an orange leather shoulder guard. Dawnwind, disengaging from battle, equipped it, raising his defenses and survivability. He directed the two skeletal dragons onto the battlefield, ready to reap the spoils. Dawnwind himself slipped into stealth, watching and waiting for skill cooldowns and opportunity, while his avatar plunged into the fray, targeting players in cloth armor. The skeletal dragons possessed only seventy percent of their attributes, suffered one and a half times normal damage, and lasted forty seconds; Dawnwind maximized their impact by focusing on cloth-armored players, creating pressure. Against elite teams or paladins, the effect would be much weaker.

Li Serpent’s death at Dawnwind’s hand shook the entire team, revealing the ferocity of the Outres team, far from the pushover they’d imagined. Monk was slippery, launching attacks then fleeing, never trading blows head-on. Bladecraze’s slashes were powerful and his evasive maneuvers elusive, making him hard to catch—and if given a chance, lethal. Shadow’s direct damage was negligible, but his summoned undead creatures were numerous, disrupting others; he darted about, spreading terror and breaking rhythm. Shadow targeted Golden Dragon especially, always coming to frighten him and disrupt his momentum. Had Golden Dragon’s equipment not been lost to Dawnwind or if he weren’t so fearful, he might have managed, but now he truly felt overwhelmed.

The Soulbound team still performed admirably, having already dispatched eight opponents and finally cornered Monk, killing him outright. Shadow proved troublesome; his gear was all survival-oriented, relying not on his own output, but Soulbound deliberately broke his rhythm, making it easier for others to unleash their full power.

Shadow Priest Sandbeach took on Bladecraze, her psychic powers quickly disrupting his flow and making continuous attacks difficult. Wang Xiaodie, though hard to kill with her Ice Butterfly Ring, was still rapidly drained of health when focused upon, forcing her to hide in her ice barrier. Indeed, without knowing the Outres team’s true strength, killing them proved difficult, but once understood, it became easier.

Gwen was completely suppressed, pursued simultaneously by four Viral Frenzy avatars. With the bonus from their anti-stealth equipment, catching Gwen was not hard. Throughout the battle, Gwen’s support was minimal. Wenger fared no better, as Zephyr King pressed her so hard she could barely breathe.

Without Outres and Dawnwind, they simply couldn’t suppress their opponents. Death Mantis constantly searched for Outres’s position, but to no avail. His mobility was excellent, so he rarely acted, guarding against Outres’s tricks. Yet Outres went on to kill Li Serpent—he knew all too well who was suppressing whom.

He rushed over, but was a step too late.

Dawnwind’s skeletal dragon avatar returned in force, chasing the enemy’s Holy Priest and breaking their recovery rhythm. Dawnwind leapt and darted about, impossible for others to catch. Death Mantis ambushed and quickly eliminated Dawnwind’s avatar.

—1223
—1223
Outres, the Black Bone Sand King, emerged from underground, his two pincers seizing Death Mantis’s legs and dragging him below, allowing Outres to evade attacks. With his Death Strike skill off cooldown, Dawnwind appeared behind Death Mantis, his claws instantly plunging into the mantis’s back, reducing his health drastically.

Jump away!

They had originally hoped to focus fire and kill Death Mantis, but Dark Bat unleashed a sonic wave, forcing Dawnwind to leap aside. Outres dared not linger either; sound waves could penetrate underground, and being stunned would spell trouble. Death Mantis realized the situation was dire: Outres handled ambush and control, Dawnwind provided output, and their coordination was flawless. Had Dark Bat not intervened, things would have been even worse.

Death Sting!

The troublesome Holy Priest was instantly slain by Outres’s ultimate, a swift pivot that left the priest no time to react after glancing toward Death Mantis—immediately ambushed and killed. With their group healer gone, their rhythm was broken.

After fleeing, Dawnwind was pursued by Demon Warlock Autumnleaf, whose purpose was to prevent Dawnwind from entering stealth again. By keeping Dawnwind under attack and in combat, he would have to rely on skills to vanish, making him easier to kill. There was no need for many to approach Dawnwind; as a monstrously powerful melee attacker, only tanks could withstand him, while ranged attackers bombarded him.

Dark Bat relentlessly assaulted Dawnwind from the air, and Dawnwind was powerless to retaliate. The bat was annoyingly persistent, constantly harrying Dawnwind; unless Dawnwind stopped streaming or used his earlier method to evade, Dark Bat could keep tracking his direction, following even if Dawnwind vanished into stealth.

“Outres, I’m pinned down—come kill!” Dawnwind was thoroughly entangled by Dark Bat and Death Mantis. If he stopped for direct confrontation, they would surely surround and kill him. Dawnwind had an area lifesteal skill, but it only worked where he had previously inflicted damage, making it hard to recover health while constantly on the move. As for his invincibility skill, he feared using it, lest it be removed and he be instantly slain; his health was down to forty-three percent.

The skeletal dragons’ frenzy couldn’t be sustained; Dawnwind kept running, delaying the two attackers. Were it only Dark Bat, he would pose little threat, as his area attacks did not inflict much damage, but whenever Dawnwind was hit, Death Mantis would come, forcing Dawnwind to constantly alter his route.

“Impressive—one man holding off two legendary beast gods, hunted so relentlessly yet still alive. Dawnwind is truly fierce!” Watching Dawnwind chased by Dark Bat and Death Mantis, others saw his most desperate side: leaping, rolling, vanishing, shadow-striking, constantly escaping. Even the Dark Rhino Warrior summoned by Dawnwind was quickly killed by Death Mantis.

“This is the price of arrogance—daring to stream while being hunted by two legendary beast gods.” Many knew Dawnwind could simply stop streaming, making him much harder to find. No one knew why he continued; perhaps that was the reason, as Dark Bat and Death Mantis were both holding back, not daring to truly finish him.

Dawnwind himself was miserable; he hadn’t expected Dark Bat’s sensing and prediction abilities to be so strong. Even with streaming, Dark Bat could quickly locate him; after Dawnwind was hit by a sonic skill, he carried an echo status—his movements emitted sound waves that Dark Bat could detect and use to judge his position. The bat’s prediction was exceptional; his spells required time to cast, but he always cast them early, hitting the area Dawnwind was in and causing damage.

Indeed, Dark Bat’s quick dark wave skill did little damage and had limited range, but it completely countered Dawnwind. Dawnwind couldn’t escape his line of sight, couldn’t sneak, couldn’t get close; his explosive power was wasted.

Dawnwind’s single-target killing ability was formidable, but his other skills were lacking. Had his escape ability not been strong, he would have died already. Dawnwind felt Dark Bat was a criminal; Dark Bat felt the same about Dawnwind. He didn’t want to use his weak area skill, preferring his ultimate or control abilities, but Dawnwind’s constant jumping denied him any chance. His control skills couldn’t lock onto Dawnwind and required proximity, and his high-damage skills needed long casting times—if he paused to cast, Dawnwind would slip out of range, leaving him unable to attack.

Especially when Dawnwind dashed into crowds, attacking to recover health, this was what Dark Bat hated most. Like with Golden Dragon, Dawnwind would suddenly appear behind him, vanish, and unleash a shadow strike to paralyze, then bombard him with a bloody chain of eight attacks, instantly restoring a chunk of health. Death Mantis never managed to block Dawnwind in time; once successful, Dawnwind would immediately flee, Outres would focus fire on Golden Dragon, Death Mantis would have to stop and intercept, and Dawnwind would seek out others to recover health and sow chaos.

Many believed Dark Bat was suppressing Dawnwind, but only Dark Bat knew it was Dawnwind suppressing the two of them. He alone was holding off two adversaries, letting Outres collect kills—their side was at a disadvantage.

Previously, the whole team had analyzed how best to deal with Dawnwind, knowing his explosive power was unmatched and that contact should be avoided. Yet in a group battle, evading Dawnwind was nearly impossible; his movement speed was astonishing, his positioning elusive. They would run at the sight of him approaching—Viral Frenzy feared him most, as his avatar couldn’t withstand Dawnwind’s instantaneous burst. So stopping Dawnwind was nearly impossible.

Dark Bat also found it troublesome to stop Dawnwind, whose constant movement was frustrating. How was he to attack? The aerial advantage made Dark Bat highly survivable, but his skills were a headache. Were it not for his high prediction ability, he would be unsuited to operate the legendary beast god’s body. Every beast god had a weakness; Dawnwind knew his own, as well as that his opponents targeted it, so he could only blend into crowds.

Skeletal Dragon’s Hunger!

Even after being hit by Dark Bat’s dark flame ultimate, Dawnwind immediately absorbed the lost health caused by his previous attacks, refilling his health bar. Now Soulbound approached, and Dawnwind feared being controlled—he could only flee quickly. Outres had to hold the line; Dawnwind had to escape.

Who held the advantage in this team battle? Both sides had lost about half their members; no one knew who was ahead. Dark Bat had to suppress Dawnwind; otherwise, if Dawnwind broke free, he could swiftly kill solo targets, increasing casualties. Death Mantis chasing Dawnwind was unlikely; he’d tried before and wasted time, better off hunting in the shadows.

Shadow Corner was extremely low-key this battle, never scoring a kill, but assisting in every one! Soulbound couldn’t locate Shadow Corner, so only Death Mantis could deal with him.

Who is suppressing whom?